Detective Byomkesh Bakshy - Movie Review

Vidit Bhargava
Movie: Detective Byomkesh Bakshy
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Music: Sneha Khanwalkar, Madboy / Mink and Other Artists
Actors: Shushant Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwary, Divya Menon, Meiyang Chang

The Key to a great Murder Mystery is a well told story and not necessarily a big surprise, some of my favourite Detective fiction mysteries are written beautifully with Murder often being a consequence of a chain of events. Dibakar Banerjee’s Byomkesh Bakshy is a well told story but lacks a surprise element.

Byomkesh Bakshy is a surprisingly fresh take on regular detective movies / shows. A pleasant departure from the tradition of portraying a detective as some one who is extremely observant, infinitely more intelligent than his peers and somewhat invincible (Look no further than Cumberbach’s and Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Sherlock). Banerjee’s Byomkesh is a young amateur enthusiast, vulnerable and prone to making mistakes, He’s not a professional, can hardly be called a detective but learns quickly. Teetering on the thin line between what’s legal and what’s not, Byomkesh’s investigations are based on straight forward questioning, street smart trickery and a bit of trespassing. It’s refreshing to see to see a younger, learning detective. The imperfections in Byomkesh lend an element of adventure to the movie. In a well shot sequence that shows Byomkesh’s inexperience, Straight out of a negotiation from a Chinese Gang, Bakshy reaches out to a British Inspector (Mark Bennington) with a proposal to provide the villain in exchange of a favour, only to be sternly reminded by the inspector that it’s the Calcutta police, not a Chinese Gang.



Set in the 1940s Calcutta (Now Kolkata), the first accomplishment of the movie is perhaps being able to create a beautiful 1940s environment and not go overboard by showing off long shots of the vintage Kolkata. The next accomplishment is the brilliant idea of setting up contemporary characters in a period setting. While the sets give an impression that the movie is set in the colonial times, the language and characters are very much nearer to the present, being instantly relatable. By eliminating a steep on-boarding that a period film with period characters would generally go through, the director spends more time on building up the key characters like Byomkesh Bakshy and Ajit Banerjee. Setting up the plot takes up a lot of time and might appear slow to some but I felt it was quite well done, given that we’re looking at a franchise in the making here and not a one movie series.

Music is a big plus too. Done by Sneha Khanwalker and a bunch of other artists including Madboy / Mink, the soundtrack makes the movie all the more special. It’s one of those soundtracks that you’d buy after watching the movie. Music is key to storytelling and in many ways Khanwalker and team has hit the ball out of the park here.

Good Mystery movies in the recent times have been largely influenced by the Detective fiction written by Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle. Reema Kagti’s Talaash’s screenplay was largely Agatha Christie-que in nature. Kahaani with the hired Assassin playing a crucial role might have been a little Dan Brown-ish (Not in the bad sense of the word, at all) in it’s dealing with the screenplay. Byomkesh’s screenplay remains largely untouched from such influences, there were odd nods to Conan Doyle and Christie, with the paper cutting threats being straight out of The Hound of Baskervilles, the Poirot style Climax where every suspect is invited to a roundtable meet and Byomkesh starts telling the story, and an incident of strychnine (a favourite drug of Christie) poisoning but apart from that it didn’t seem to be ‘inspired’ by any previous Detective fiction. The style of writing was neither inspired from Christie or Conan Doyle, which is a rather good thing.



But Byomkesh Bakshy isn’t perfect. The lack of a good surprise element is telling. It makes for a rather boring climax, where you already know who the villain is. The big reveal is guessable miles away from the climax and it isn’t something special. This is something that comes of as a surprise to me, as Dibakar Banerjee’s previous thriller Shanghai, featured a very unconventional ending. Having said that the gripping screenplay does cover for that. There’s also a lack of depth to some of the characters, like the inmates of the boarding lodge that Bakshy stays in, except for Chang’s character none of them really have a story to them. Also, the steady pace and a significant lack of action in the first half might irk some, but to be honest, Detective movies aren’t meant to be a barrage of gunfire, they are meant to give you time to sink your teeth in to the story.

Acting for most of the part is fine with Shushant Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwari, Divya Menon and Mark Bennington giving standout performances. Swastika Mukherjee hams it a bit though but given that her role isn’t very big, her acting doesn’t really have a big negative impact on the movie.

Minor issues aside, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy is a solid start to the Byomkesh Series. It’s an unconventional take on the detective fiction genre and is certainly a job well done. I’m already excited about the next in the series. Byomkesh Bakshy is a movie that just can’t be missed.


Rating: **** (Don’t Miss This)

Imitation isn't flattery. It's Stealing

Wait? That’s not LookUp advertising?

Yes. It’s not LookUp the elegant dictionary advertising. It’s another supposedly “visionary” startup which has just begun its campaign called LOOK UP. 

As the co-creator of LookUp ( A dictionary app for the iPhone ), I have a message for housing.com:

In the ad, promoting your “LOOK UP” campaign, you call yourself visionary, hardworking and game changing. Visionary. Hardworking. Game Changing. That’s What you aren’t! (Or at least that’s what you show us, when you so shamefully copy our branding and spin out an advertising campaign on it!)

This is what our brand looks like: 

Just as much of a growing brand housing.com is in it’s space, we too although small are in a similar position in the app business.

Blatantly copying our brand and logo isn’t right. I’m not sure how your conscience allows you to do this. Some may say, Imitation is the best form of flattery. But Personally, I’m not flattered. We spent a lot of time in making our logo, deciding the name. I’m not flattered by you blatantly stealing our identity. To quote Sir Jonathan Ive, “Imitation isn’t flattery. It’s stealing.”

Sincerely,

Vidit Bhargava

Creator, LookUp: An Elegant Dictionary

Cofounder, The Tangible Apps

If you haven't tried LookUp yet, here's a link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lookup-an-elegant-dictionary/id872564448?mt=8

Movie Recommendation: Badlapur

 Vidit Bhargava

Director: Sriram Raghavan
Actors: Nawazuddin Siddique, Varun Dhawan, Kumud Mishra, Huma Qureshi, Radhika Apte

In one of the best opening sequences for an Hindi Movie, the movie’s chief antagonist Liaq and his ally rob a bank and flee by taking hostage a lady and a young child. Both the woman and the kid die and thus begins our protagonist Raghav’s road to revenge.

One of the best things about Badlapur is its actors. Just about everyone does their work brilliantly in the movie. It’s hard to find anyone who’s not performing well here. Nawazuddin still steels the show though. He’s miles ahead of every other actor in the movie and that’s when everyone’s doing a good job. He plays Liaq with great finesse, capturing the tiny details right. Nawazuddin gets the best lines too. Watch him taunt a fellow inmate about a trip to Bangkok during his short hiatus from the prison or His face off with Dhawan’s character Raghav, where he makes him realise the brutality of his revenge plan. (That scene is going to stay for a long long time with the viewers). 



Varun Dhawan as Raghav is good, Dhawan plays his character with surprising ease, this being a completely new territory for him. Amongst others, Kumud Mishra has the pot bellied police officer is impressive (Reminded me of Mr. Plod from Noddy :) ) , Huma Qureshi plays here role with much aplomb, though short her character is extremely well written. The same applies for Radhika Apte’s, Ashwini Khalsekar’s and Zakir Hussain’s cameos, their screen time may be short but their performances leave a mark.   

Badlapur does benefit from some extremely well written characters. Taking a leaf out of Mani Ratnum’s Raavan, Raghavan puts no one in black and white here. There are no completely evil or completely good characters. Every character has layers of depth to it. Every evil character has a somewhat good side to it and there’s a dash of evil in the good ones too. Liaq’s is perhaps the best written character in the movie. By the time the movie ends, it’s hard not to like “Liaq” and that’s partly because how well Liaq’s character is written and partly because of Nawazuddin’s acting prowess. 



Despite the tone that Badlapur’s trailer sets, it isn’t an extremely violent movie. In fact, there’s a lot of good dark humour here. Raghavan’s judicious use of violence and humour in unexpected places, strikes an uncanny but good balance over here, making the movie extremely engaging. 

Badlapur’s screenplay is highly gripping, there’s also a strong Johnny Gaddar echo here, which isn’t necessarily bad for Badlapur. Badlapur isn’t perfect though. It’s pace does slacken a bit post intermission but it’s only a minor hiccup in what is other wise a pretty great movie. Also, those looking for a violent and bloody revenge story will be slightly disappointed. However, Running at about 2 hours 20 minutes, there’s hardly ever a dull moment in Badlapur!



There’s isn’t much to dislike about Badlapur. It’s an exceptionally well made movie. It’s the best I’ve seen so far in 2015. Badlapur’s not a movie to be missed.

Rating: **** (Don’t miss this one! )

P.S. Don’t Miss the Beginning, Seriously don’t. Not only does it have an awesome opening sequence, the first 15 minutes of the movie are extremely crucial. If you miss them, you’ll have a hard time figuring out what’s going on, and you might not enjoy the movie to the fullest.

Buying a Book Online isn't the Right Experience

Vidit Bhargava
I went to a bookshop last Sunday, my first meaningful visit to one in three years. Traditional Bookstores have always worked for me, a lot more than the online ones. So, for the book I bought, I browsed a lot of others too.

So why do traditional Bookstores work for me? They get a lot of things right.  Serendipity for example. So, when I went to a bookshop last week, I not only got the Agatha Christie novel I was looking for, I also discovered a book on Pakistan’s Cricket History, A book by Basharat Peer and an architecture and design magazine. Fortunate Happenstances like these seldom happen on Amazon or Flipkart. 

Back in 2010, I was a regular at a bookshop in New Delhi’s Connaught Place. The bookseller gradually picked up my reading habits and would suggest me a book or two, while I was at his shop browsing for new things to read. At times, it would be something I really liked at others not very good. But, there’s something to be said about Booksellers here. They are some of the best book curators out their. They lend a Human Touch to the book buying process. Go to a Bookshop about where the ones selling you a book are just as enthusiastic about them as you are and you’ll realise the value of the little suggestions they give you.

The New Book Depot, now closed, was one of the best Bookstores in the city!

Also, you get to the feel the paper, turn the pages and select the book and the paper and bind quality. Now, this may seem trivial and in reality it is indeed a minor detail which many might ignore, but to me making sure that the book I’m buying feels good in hand, is essential in the buying process.

Online stores on the other hand, lack the human touch. Personally, I’ve felt this ever since I started buying things from Flipkart / Amazon. There’s little emotion in the selling process. It’s a mechanical warehouse culture that these books are subjected to. Wrapped in a cardboard box ready to be ‘shipped’, the Book is just another courier consignment and not a doorway to another universe full of amazing things.

Wrapped in a cardboard box ready to be ‘shipped’, the Book is just another courier consignment and not a doorway to another universe full of amazing things.

On Flipkart or Amazon, you get what you want, but seldom do you come across something new. Seldom does Flipkart suggest something that you really might want to read. Both the websites its seems, are always embroiled in a battle to provide the cheapest rates possible. None of them seem to care about the condition and quality of the book they are sending the readers, there’ve been many instances for me when an Amazon fulfilled purchase ended up in a book with dust and scratch marks on it or even a torn cover. Even though the online stores provide an image with every purchase, you still don’t know what you are going to see at your doorstep.

Having said that, the online stores deserve some credit for having a much larger collection of books than a conventional bookstore might have. There’ve been a lot of times when I was unable to find a book any where in the city but found an import edition on Amazon. Also, some of the online stores do care about the books, Flipkart was famous for sending some really beautiful bookmarks, back when they were young and few people knew them.



Buying a book online is sometimes a necessity.  For every other time, I’d prefer to walk to my Bookstore where the experience is much more human. 

Movie Review: Baby

Vidit Bhargava
Director: Neeraj Pandey. 
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Rasheed Naz, Danny Denzongpa, Anupam Kher and Kay Kay Menon.

Here’s what a Neeraj Pandey movie generally is, it’s a decent story with an extraordinary climax and brilliant performances by all actors, which is what makes it a memorable experience. Baby, however is no crowning jewel for the director. 

A terrorist escapes prison, a supposed Dead Agent shows up in Nepal and a trusted recruit turns Rogue, putting the Baby team, a special cell of the ATU, hot on the trail of a major terror attack plot against the country. Complete with Thrilling chase sequences, Guns, Gadgets and espionage, it has all the makings of a decent thriller. 

Coming from the director of ‘A Wednesday’ and ‘Special 26’ both of them known for their originality of ideas and out of the box treatment, this movie’s disappointing in a lot of areas. Baby’s neither got wildly original ideas nor does the thriller genre get a special treatment. Borrowing ideas from Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, it’s a conventional spy-thriller which relies more on thrills and impressive fight sequences rather than content.

In a slow and jerky first half, joggling between frequent lapses in logic and jingoistic dialogues, Baby’s hardly passable. In one of the early sequences, The escape of a terrorist in broad daylight on a busy Mumbai road is just one of the many logic-less sequences from the movie.The second half however, catches a bit of pace, providing better thrills and with a much more gripping screenplay and even though the climax isn’t entirely original, it’s extremely gripping.

Rana Daggubatti deserved a lot more screen space, He can definitely act! 

Baby’s strength however lies in crisp conversations with clap inducing dialogues and some good comic timing in particularly tense situations. That, along with good performances from every one makes Baby an enjoyable experience. Amongst the actors, Rasheed Naz looks in good touch in his role of the Terror Master Mind, Anupam Kher and Rana Dugabatti, although in short cameos are extremely impressive. But credit to Tapsee Panu who plays her cameo with surprising aplomb.

Going to watch Baby, I was expecting a different take on conventional thrillers. I was disappointed. What I got instead, was an enjoyable and brisk action thriller, but hardly something memorable. Despite it’s many flaws, Baby is still worth a watch but don’t expect too much from it.

That's how they shot down logic!

Rating: 7/10 It’s good but not Neeraj Pandey Good

The Imitation Game: Review

Directed by: Mortem Tyldum
Starring: Benedict Cumberbach, Matthew Goode and Keira Knightley

Music: Alexandre Desplat

Running Time: 1 hour 54 minutes

At one point in the movie, the character of Joan Clarke tells Turing that while taking a train to the city she went passed a village which wouldn't exist had it not been for his genius. This is exactly the reason why you should know about Alan Turing too, had it not been for his work and genius we'd still be years behind in technology.

The Imitation Game is a biopic which heavily benefits from the protagonist's character and some powerful performances by Benedict Cumberbach and Matthew Goode.

Based in the 1930s, The imitation game tells the often ignored story of how Alan Turing broke the Enigma codes to help England win the war. While, also touching on the subject of inclusivity and how geniuses sometimes find it hard to have a social life.

Packed with powerful performances from Benedict Cumberbach, Matthew Goode and Keira Knightley, the imitation game manages to strike the right chord of emotion throughout it's 2 hours of running time.


A strong story and a well written screenplay captures your attention even in the most trivial of mathematic discussions.

There's also something to be said about how well shot the movie is, from the perfect reproduction of the 1950s, to long shots of Turing with his computer Christopher, the Imitation Game is a very elegantly made movie and incredibly calm for a movie about the very urgency of war time problem solving.

But the Imitation Game is far from perfect. There's a touch of everything in the movie. It's a war movie, a spy thriller and a science drama at the same time. The imitation game discusses the war time problems, Turing's personal challenges (to which Cumberbach lends  surprising finesse) and Turing's relationship with Christopher the computer and the genius of Joan Clarke at good lengths but it's only skin deep when discussing about mathematical and engineering challenges. Going to watch a biopic on Alan Turing, I was expecting a little more on the Enigma Codes. The director, generates a whole lot of interest in cryptography and enigma codes and mathematics but doesn't really let the movie sink it's teeth on those subjects.

Despite Cumberbach's award worthy performance, the socially inept genius character is starting to show its age, Jim Parson's already doing it as Sheldon in the Big Bang theory and Cumberbach's doing it in Sherlock too. Nearly 8 years into watching these types of characters on TV shows, one wonders if it's time we took some break off them and talked about the more social academics, one's who don't insult every passerby on the street.

Also, The Imitation Game is a movie that’s best watched without an interval. Sadly, however not many theatres offer that privilege in India. So I’d suggest you either ask the theatre personal before hand about the no-interval screening (if its available, though I am heavily skeptical) or watch it at home through a legally distributed copy, for the best experience.

It’s also interesting to note the makers’ choice of using Imitation Game as the title, which is a direct reference to Turing’s work on what we now call Captcha, instead of something like Enigma or Christopher. Moreover, the way the Imitation Game was used in the movie’s narrative is surprisingly good, it doesn’t stick out as odd or unnecessary, moreover you expect something like this from Turing.



The Imitation Game isn't a perfect movie but it's definitely worth a watch, just for the story itself! Alan Turing's is a story that every one must hear and the Imitation Game does justice to it a large extend but you still come out wanting more.

Rating: 8/10 ( Worth a Watch)

Movie Recommendation: PK

Vidit Bhargava

Movie: PK
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Story: Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi
Actors: Rajkumar Hirani, Anushka Sharma, Sanjay Dutt, Parikshat Sahni, Amardeep Jha and Roshitash Gaud
Rating: *** 1/2 (A Must Watch)

PK is a well made Satire, It's a strong message served with comedy and emotion in equal quantities and most importantly PK is an enjoyable experience. 

To start with, PK has a good and innovative story to tell, with an Alien on board, It’s not conventional science fiction, in fact it’s not even Science Fiction. The writers use an Alien to tell the story of human prejudice here, giving it a satirical treatment more than Sci-Fi or Drama. 

The First half is pretty much flawless, the movie breezes through with a some exceptional comic timing and a tight screenplay, there’s also a tinge of emotion which lends a lot of depth to the central character here. 

To be honest, PK works because the central character is entirely believe-able, which is where Aamir Khan does a great job here. This is easily one his best performances. As an alien, PK is intelligent & observant, yet vulnerable and distraught when he loses a valuable when he arrives on Earth to carry out a research on the living beings on the planet. With no external cues from anywhere, this is an extremely difficult role to play, Khan makes sure that his Portrayal of the Alien, doesn’t only tick of the character traits but lends a certain amount of charm to it, making PK a character that’ll stick longer than the movie itself. 

Amongst others, Saurabh Shukla is just flawless in his role of the fake godman, Again it’s a combined effort of good writing and brilliant acting, notice how the character of ’Tapasvi Maharaj’ shows his skills of a powerful and observant public speaker when he turns the tables on the journalists who come to question him over PK’s allegations. If the movie’s a showdown between the two, the actors make sure that they give an extra edge to their characters.  Sanjay Dutt does an impressive job of playing Bhairon Singh, in the little screen time his character gets, Dutt’s acting leaves a lasting impression.

For the support cast, the director sticks to his regulars here, and they don’t let him down. Parikshat Sahni, Amardeep Jha and Roshitash Gaud leave a mark here. They play their short roles with great conviction. Their performance being just as good and important as that of the lead actors.

But Not everything’s great about PK. If the first half is flawless, the second half’s where the narrative slips and topples upon the ‘well trodden path’ problem. For a first half that was unique in all aspects, the movie’s second halves a sham. Hirani & Joshi use the same media ploy they used in Lage Raho Munna Bhai. It’s so repetitive that at one point PK feels more like a sequel to Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Then there’s the rushed up and unconvincing climax, which definitely leaves a lot to be desired from the film. But it’s still pretty much watchable. 

PK’s soundtrack isn’t great either. However, it’s not something that comes in the way of the movie watch experience. It’s in an unimportant position here, It doesn’t really add much to the movie watching experience and could be loads better but it isn’t something that’ll hinder the movie flow or make you say, “what’s up with the music, it’s irritating!” (believe me, a lot of mainstream movies have managed to do that off late).

The message here is about Human Prejudice and how people are shy of reasoning, and how to some, Asking ‘Why?’ seems to be a lot more difficult than just following. The questions that the movie raises are directed more at it’s audience than a certain group or its followers.

PK has Rajkumar Hirani written all over it. There’s a strong Lage Raho Munna Bhai vibe to the movie, which isn’t necessarily bad but tells a lot about the director’s style of making satire with a message. It’s a well made movie, gets a sufficient amount of critical acclaim and yet is an entertaining experience which gets a good commercial response, not judging a movie by its commercial success but it’s definitely worth noting that some of the other good movies this year, didn’t even find enough theatres in the metropolitans, what could are great stories, if there’s no one to hear them?

PK is largely an enjoyable satire. Watch it for Aamir Khan’s portrayal of the alien astronaut, this is arguably his best acting performance, ever. It’s definitely a good movie, which ought not be missed!

Intersteller Review

Vidit Bhargava

You already know the movie is brilliant. It’s no surprise. It is a Christopher Nolan movie, one doesn’t simply expect anything less than brilliant from him. Here’s what’s great and not great (yep! not perfect) about Intersteller.

Intersteller is largely a movie to be experienced. It’s a movie that presents your space imaginations in an extremely beautiful way. It’s a visual treat to watch Intersteller.

There’s just a lot to admire about here, the way the ranger hooks into a wildly spinning Endurance is brilliantly shot. It’s beautiful, edge of the seat entertaining. Or take for instance the gigantic water waves at Miller’s Planet. They are scientifically accurate, breathtakingly beautiful and have the quality to strike panic. Then there’s the much talked about Gargantua, again scientifically accurate to the very last detail of it’s functioning. These and a lot more such instances make the movie a treat to watch, even if it’s too much to take in all the facts of relativity at once. 

The characters are well sketched out and well acted. Cooper as the ex-pilot father determined to keep the promise he made to his daughter is well played by Matthew McCaughey. Then there’s TARS, the robot. TARS is the most interesting robot I’ve come across after Marvin from Hitchhiker’s Guide To Galaxy. There are moments when TARS feels almost human, he moves in and out of conversations with effortless ease, his occasional humour is well timed and overall he’s just as much a part of the crew as Brand or Romilly. Watch him rescue Brand from a giant tidal wave. The pace with which he moves is mechanical but the emotion behind it, purely human! TARS just owned that scene. 

If there’s one thing that’s wrong with the movie in terms of acting, its probably Michael Caine’s acting, which feels slightly off colour. At one point in the movie, it’s almost as if he’s wanting to finish off his work. We’ve certainly seen better from the Academy award winner. 

Nolan’s already a master of playing with time. He’s shown that skill several times now. Memento & Inception pretty much relied on the director’s skill to work with varying time intervals. He takes a step forward with Intersteller. Here he’s dealing with Gravitational and Relativistic Time Dilation. The movie’s pretty much a showcase of how Nolan’s controlling the 4th dimension. He also gives us a glimpse of the concept of Spherical Time in the movie. (It’s mighty confusing but loads of fun too!).

The plot’s fairly straight forward here. Earth’s a diminishing planet, large amounts of cultivable crops are die-ing away every season. At some point of time, Cooper (ex-NASA pilot) stumbles upon an undercover space-travel mission from NASA. The mission is about finding a planet suitable for human settlement and then transporting the people away from Earth to a newer home. The planets they’ve zeroed in on are in a different galaxy, one that’s to be reached by travelling through a worm-hole.

To be frank, this is a fairly straight forward story told in a way assuming that you know how Space travel works. There’s time dilation, moving through a spherical worm-hole, concepts about what tidal waves and time would behave like in a planet where Gravity behaves differently. And then there’s the challenge which is entirely based on the complexities of time dilation. All this may is pretty straight forward if you are aware of these theories, even the movie’s mind-bending climax is pretty much based on scientific calculations, again figure able if you’ve read about it. Intersteller’s about facts. It’s not confusing and it tries its best explaining these concepts, just watch Romilly explain Cooper why the wormhole is spherical and not circular. But the fact-heaviness of the movie may be a slight negative for some here. 

It’d be unfair to not mention about the care taken to make the Science Fiction as scientifically accurate as possible. The directors hired Kip Thorne for the work. There research and fact checking works wonders here. We’ve all visualised Black Holes differently, but thanks to some great scientific research, we see a beautiful and entirely different view on Black Holes. Not to forget some great use of Slingshot effect here. The added scientific accuracy, is not a necessity but definitely nice to have in the movie. 

In the end, Intersteller’s breathtaking visuals (almost an advertisement for space travel), a mind bending climax, a rousing soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, some awe-inspiring moments like the one about Hyperspace and a gripping screenplay make for an engaging watch. It’s different, It’s beautiful and the treat’s ten times more engaging for anyone interested in Science. If only it were more accessible.

Rating: 9/10 (You can't miss this one!)

Happy Ending Review

Vidit Bhargava

Movie: Happy Ending

Directors: Krishna DK and Raj Nidimoru

Actors: Govinda, Ranvir Shorey, BMW,  Saif Ali Khan

Rating: *** (Likeable)

There’s a lot to like about Happy Ending. It’s a joyous movie in general, with little conflict and a good comedy but then its also conventional and boring in parts, which doesn’t seem good for a movie which mocks the very conventional and boring content that it ends up offering to its audience. It’s a movie aware of the fact that its going to bore its audience for about half an hour at least.

The actors play writers here. One (Khan) facing a supposed writer’s block, the other (D’Cruz) enjoying the fame that comes with a successful novel. Khan’s a one book wonder whose just been given the boring task of writing a conventional ‘Romedy’. 

The movie’s first half’s a breeze. There’s a lot of good humour here, you’ll find yourself chuckling at some really witty instances, for example the phrase that the publisher Gary comes up for warning budding writers about one book wonders. “You’ll get Yudied!” (Reminds me of how the tech-community refers to buggy releases as Vista moments :) ),  or the tracking (bugging rather) app by the name of ‘No Space’. Or the repeated mention of halves to make the numbers seem low (6 years? No just 5 and a half!), cleverly sewed into the movies title headings too! The movie’s filled with such little gems, which  makes up for the rather boring second half.

Then there’s Govinda, who is in top form, he pretty much livens up the movie with his fantastic comic timing. He get’s the movies best lines and the most interesting and innovative pieces. But it’s not just Govinda who's doing an amazing job here, its pretty much the entire supporting cast that’s to be credited for the best parts in the movie. Ranvir Shorey as Montu is great, again, perfect comic timing. Kalki Koechlin’s also a part of the movie (also perhaps, has a greater role than the lead actress herself) and has some really witty one liners. Rahul Nath as Gary is phenomenal, his well timed NRI-ish Hindi and witty one-liners are enjoyable. And lastly, there’s the alter ego double role by Saif Ali Khan, which again is a likeable and unique character.  This has to be one of those movies where the supporting cast and their characters are far more interesting than the main leads.

Not everything’s great with Happy Ending though, In fact there’s a lot that’s not great. As the movie goes into its second hour, the narrative slips to a dull and boring setup. We get to see long and boring conversations, fewer jokes and in general a pretty sloppy screenplay. The interest starts to ween out a little and it’s not until the last ‘half’ hour that movie gets back into its groove. Then there are the unnecessary sub plots which do nothing but stretch the narrative even further. Honestly, the second half needed some clipping and grooming. It’s also pity we see so little of Govinda in the second half, he was the highlight of the first half!

There’s little detail given to the lead characters too. They’re supposed to be writers but there’s are the most depth-less characters. The writers do try to bring in a back story about a rock band and about not enjoying the writing but leave it just as quickly as they begin with it. And Indeed, the movie’s just filled with such incomplete, vague subplots which are never bought to a close. The result is, that we only have a half baked idea of the characters. So for instance we can guess, that D’Cruz doesn’t enjoy her writing , or that she’s a very blunt critic of other’s and her own work and that when she’s writing she’s just putting everything in negation to her opinion. These are interesting bits but it never really goes far enough to give us a well written character.

Happy Ending isn’t all bad either. The comedy part’s great. Its got some of the most remarkably funny parts I’ve seen in a movie this year and as a result, its extremely like-able, you won’t feel bad or disappointed after watching the movie. Its also quite light-weight and despite its problems can make a for a good second watch easily. The soundtrack's quite good too.

There’s a fair bit of product placement too, but it is BMW, so no one’s complaining for having to look at some of the most stunning cars! (Mini Cooper Convertible is a brilliant here! :) ). The directors show some innovation with movie headings too. Going with Yudi’s nature of not mentioning anything in integrals, the headings do the same. So you’ll see headings like “5 1/2 weeks later” and then they have fun mocking the conventional rom-com scenes too! So, mid way into the movie, you’ll find a heading which says, “Airport-wala Scene!”. 

I’d give Happy Ending 3 out of 5. It’s not the best movie this year, It’s not the directors’ best either but Its a good watch but going by the film’s tradition of not mentioning anything in integers, I’m quite tempted to change my rating to a real number too. So, Its 6.5 /10 then!

Rating: 6.5 /10

P.S. Going by the film’s IMDb rating and general critical response, I’ve a feeling that’s going to turn up being a largely underrated movie. Honestly, its not as bad as the IMDb rating’s making it look.

Cafes in Delhi - Amici

Amici - Khan Market
Vidit Bhargava



Amici is perhaps the most Authentic Italian cafe you’ll find in Delhi. The moment you enter the place, you know Its not the regular Italian food you get in the city. There’s little indian-ization done to the menu. You won’t find Paneer as a topping here or a super spicy pasta, what you’ll find instead is some really different and exciting Italian food. The taste can take sometime getting used to here. At first you might feel its a little too bland but the taste actually grows on you and eventually you like nothing other than this!

Of the pizzas, you’d be missing out if you didn’t try their calzone verde. It’s a completely different pizza. The pizza is folded here, so the toppings and cheese are inside it. The cheese is slightly different from what you have on your regular pizzas and the taste is awesome! 

If you are looking for a pasta, I suggest the Arrabiata, It's pretty good!

But What’ll really make your day at Amici is the Italian beverage by the name of “Spremuta”. It’s something you’ll seldom find anywhere else and it’s got this slightly tangy taste to it and it’s highly refreshing.

As a cafe Amici is nicely constructed, especially the mezzanine where you get a good view of their wooden oven on one side and the balcony on the other. The space isn’t cramped up or cozy like Big Chill and that is in fact a good thing, you can even bring your work along with you, this is also one of the quieter cafes. They even had a bladeless fan from Dyson sometime back which is much less noisier than the normal ones. The service is quite decent too, on one occasion, the manager didn’t hesitate to make a trip to the chef to clear our query about the ingredients.

To sum it up, if you like Italian and are in Delhi, Amici is the place to go and once you get a hang of the taste, you won’t like anything else!

Rating: ****

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P.S. Didn't get time to click the photos, Used Zomato's instead, so thanks to the Zomato users who posted the images there. (The Spremuta is mine though)

Movie Recommendation: Haider

Vidit Bhargava

Movie: Haider

Director: Vishal Bharadwaj
Written by: Basharat Peer, Vishal Bharadwaj
Cinematographer: Pankaj Kumar

Actors: Narendra Jha, Shahid Kapoor, Kay Kay Menon, Tabu, Irrfan Khan, Ashish Vidyarthi

You can never guess, that Bashir Lone’s masterpiece “So Jao” which sounds extremely gruesome, is actually a funny sequence in the movie. Haider, an adaptation to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a movie you’ll regret giving a miss. 

There’s a lot to like about Haider. Starting with the first half itself, which doesn’t rush through things but instead goes for a steady stream of developments which then go on to have a major impact in the second half. Then there’s Haider’s transition from grief to rage and then eventually madness which is done with finese, full credits to the actor here. 

The movie’s climax is perhaps the best part of Haider. Its about 15 minutes long and has some of the finest acting on display. There’s a lot to like about the climax actually, Its treated in a different way than how Hamlet ended and is definitely clap worthy.

The soundtrack is top notch. Bashir Lone’s So Jao and Vishal Bharadwaj’s Jhelum are rare gems. Bismil is an interesting and catchy composition. The other songs which include Arijit Singh’s Khul Kabhi and Vishal Dadlani’s rock take on So Jao, are great too. The placement of these songs in the movie is done very nicely, they don’t seem to be forced and blend well with the screenplay.

The song Bismil, which is a brilliantly composed song is meant to be a play in the movie. The song is basically a plot synopsis for Haider. If you’ve heard the song carefully, you've probably figured out a major chunk of the story already.

But Haider’s not for everyone. At 2 Hours 42 minutes, Haider might feel a bit long to some, Vishal Bharadwaj’s intentionally steady narrative won’t help either. Also, there’s a lot going on in the first half. A few characters desert the movie after a scene or two, giving rise to some incomplete subplots.

There's a bit of dark humour here, too. Like the repeated reference to the similarities of Chutzpah and AFSPA, or the song So Jao. The film's oozing with some amazing sequences that make you laugh in the midst of tragedy.

Basharat Peer's addition as a co-writer helps generate a greater connect with reality, which again helps the movie very well. To top that, Pankaj Kumar's cinematography is brilliant, it captures the beautiful landscape very well, that's one of the biggest pluses of Haider, its always pleasing to the eye.

In the end Haider gets the dark treatment it needed. Everyone’s done a great job at acting. There’s little to complain about and you come out of the theatre extremely satisfied. Surely, you just can’t be thinking of missing something like Haider.

Rating: **** (Masterpiece)

Movie Recommendation: Aankhon Dekhi

Ankhon Dekhi
Directed by: Rajat Kapoor
Actors: Sanjay Mishra, Rajat Kapoor, Manu Rishi, Brijendra Kala
Rating: ****

Ankhon Dekhi is a must watch. It's extremely funny, Has some of the best actors in superb form, a soundtrack that complements the movie very well and it's got this amazingly unique and brilliant story.


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It was easy to miss Ankhon Dekhi, when it was released back in March 2014. Within a week, the movie was wiped of from all major theaters, not because it was bad but because it failed to generate any interest in the audience ( a pity!). It's available for home viewing now and can be found on the iTunes Store and be rented for Rs. 120.

Sergey and Larry discuss the Matter (Comic)

"I liked it better when Steve would just explode into a wild rage and threaten to go nuclear on us". 

- This explains the entire difference between Cook & Jobs' way of working. 

Notes on Apple Watch

Vidit Bhargava
It's January 9th 2007, Steve Jobs is on stage, he's showing the world a better smartphone. You already want one. It's beautiful, elegant and potentially life changing but you don't see a lot of use instantly.

That's exactly how it felt when Tim Cook showed the world Apple's first generation SmartWatch this week. It makes other smart watches seem like ancient stone work.

Little is known about the Apple Watch at the moment. There are few details, a lot of questions and only some answers right now. I'd like to draw your attention to a few key points though:

First it's a watch. Looking at the Apple Watch from a watch buyer's perspective,  I'd say it's pretty neat. Nothing comes close at this price range that's as beautiful or as well made as the Apple watch. Add to that the watch faces are phenomenal, I specially like the analog watch faces, they look elegant!

Here's a what Benjamin Clymer of Hodinkee had to say from his first impression

"Apple got more details right on their watch than the vast majority of Swiss and Asian brands do with similarly priced watches, and those details add up to a really impressive piece of design."

Looking at the watch one realizes just how much detail has gone into the making of the Watch. The curved glass blends perfectly into the stainless steel watch enclosure, the rich detail on the digital crown gives it the right fit, finish and feel for a watch crown. In terms of sheer watch design Apple's competing with neither of Motorola, Samsung or Pebble. It's taking a direct shot at brands like Tag Heuer, Seiko or Hublot.

But The watch's construction is quite like any of Apple's first generation products. Just like the first iPhone or iPad, it's a little thick, the screen resolution could get better but I'm sure that the Apple watch will only get better and thinner in the next few generations of the watch. 



Another interesting point to note here is the strap 
design. A few months back when I first heard the rumor of an apple designed watch, I looked at mine and instantly felt the need of a better strap, I've used a leather strap before and am currently using a velcrow strap for my wrist watch and both of them are quite terrible. 

Looking at the six different strap variants I was quite pleased to see the Milanese Loop and the Leather Loop feature in the list both of them solve my watch strap problem quite efficiently. I guess the Milanese loop might be more high end but that's the one that I've found most appealing yet.

As for the software, I like the customizable Watch Faces and the new messaging app which allows you to draw and send short messages to other Watch users. 

But the thing that's most exciting here is a feature called “Glances” which basically presents quick access to things like the Weather widget or the Apple TV Remote. It's going to be very useful and I guess a lot of people will end up using Glances more than the Watch Apps.

The new Typeface is pretty good over here, when printed on the back of the watch, it reminds me of the text writtent at the back of some of the analog watches, in the OS with lower case text it is far more legible than Helvetica or Lucida Grande or even Myriad Pro. There was some claim that it felt similar to roboto, I compared both of them and the differences are quite big. Take the letter R for example, Roboto has significant Helvetica Influence, while the Watch Typeface is more similar to Lucida Grande than Helvetica.

During the demo, a lot of apps were shown, of which Some of the apps felt like they wanted to show too much on a tiny screen. But I really liked the Starwood Hotels app which allows you to unlock your room by waving the watch. The BMW app and Apple Pay are quite neat too. Also, Apple's Fitness apps are quite interesting. 

It's still early days for the Watch Space and already a few apps seem to stand out as experiences just meant for the wrist. There's a lot of scope for interesting ideas in here.

I think what's important here is Taptic Feedback, and Digital Crown. The interactions these two define will shape the direction in which Watch apps will go. 

Price is the key here, it's $349. Another Affordable Luxury sweet spot. If you are looking for a cheap workable wrist watch that costs less than a $100, you'll be disappointed. But if you were planning to buy something in the range of $200 - $500, the Apple Watch May be your best bet, even if you are just looking for a watch. 

The apple watch does leave a few questions though. For instance, what's the upgrade cycle going to be like? People tend to use Watches for a long time , it's definitely not something that one changes every year. Personally I feel a minor update every year followed by a major update in every two-three years is going to be fine.


And then there's the all important question on battery life. From the subtle hints that Apple dropped in the keynote, it feels like the watch will have at least a day of battery life at launch. But Apple's got roughly six months to launch this device and I'd be surprised if they didn't go on to improve its battery life from what it looks to be now.

As the keynote finished, I realized the atmosphere was similar to that of the initial iPhone and iPad Launch. I really want the Apple Watch, it's beautiful, elegant and something you'll instantly want to wear. I don't see a lot of use for a "smart" watch instantly, but I'm quite certain that just like the iPad, 3rd Party apps will eventually carve out incredible uses for the Apple Watch. I can already see Starwood Hotels and City Mapper leading the pack.

Images from Apple and Hodinkee